


"Can we talk?"

by FatDragonLair



Category: Echo (Visual Novel 2019)
Genre: Coming Out, Slurs, Takes place during Leo's route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23515909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatDragonLair/pseuds/FatDragonLair
Summary: "Hey Jenna? Mind if we could talk alone back at the hotel?""Sure. Is everything okay? Having some anxiety issues?""Well... kind of. I feel more comfortable talking about it face to face."--TJ has an announcement to make.
Relationships: Tobias "TJ" Hess & Jenna Begay
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	"Can we talk?"

Jenna sat on her bed, staring at the text on her phone. She got a message from TJ about ten minutes ago and felt her breathing going uneasy. She knew TJ had some issues when it came back to Echo. Everyone did. And that incident that happened a few days back at the river clearly didn't help with that at all. Perhaps he wants to go home early? That could be a possibility since he'd been a bit on edge after that, especially when someone raises their tone in the slightest bit. The fox began to think of any possibilities that triggered this nervousness in the lynx. Perhaps he saw Clint or Micah again? She knew those two had been annoyances ever since childhood. Maybe it's because he can't stop thinking about what happened all those years ago, and Flynn bringing them back up made it worse. She began to think about how the next time Flynn shows his fucking face and touches TJ she'll beat him to a bloody... No. Nooooonononono. The fennec shook her head and pressed the cold soda can to her forehead, groaning. "I think Leo is getting to me..." She said to herself as the door creaked open, taking away some of the lovely cold air with it. Soon the door closed and TJ was inside, his neutral face clearly hiding anxiety.

"So what's up?" Jenna asks, placing her can on the small table in between her and the boys' beds. She always gave a shoulder for TJ to lean on, metaphorically and sometimes literally, throughout their childhood. She was the one who introduced TJ to the group, which in hindsight was maybe not the smartest move on her part. "Did you enjoy your little soccer game with Leo and Chase?" The fox didn't partake in the game, namely due to how her face was a magical ball magnet when it came to sports. Took about maybe three or four broken noses to realize that ball games aren't her specialty.

The lynx nodded and gave off a tiny smile before sitting on his bed, hoping that Jenna wouldn't notice the lowered tail between his legs. "Yeah, it was nice seeing Chase and Leo again." He answered, in the soft voice that easily contrasted with everyone else's tone in this town. The silence grew longer and longer and of course more uncomfortable. The lynx's heartbeat grew more intense as he saw Jenna's mouth opened up.

"Hey, is everyt-"

"I'm gay."

It took a moment for him to realize what he just said and immediately shoved his face in between his hands, letting out a frustrated yowl. He fuc- screwed it up. He was gonna talk to Jenna about how over the years of hanging out with the gang changed him and eventually made him feel comfortable about his sexuality; how past few years made him too nervous to say it earlier, given the amount of homophobic stories he had heard from the news, and the homophobic comments he sometimes heard from both his highschool and college classmates made it worse; how the only reason why he dated Cynthia was because she was lesbian and just wanted everyone off her back and he felt the same way given how people kept calling him "queer" and "faggot" whenever he expressed himself in a sensitive way. 

He felt a hug, causing him to open his eyes to see Jenna with a calm yet proud look on her face.

"It's okay, bud." she answered, petting his head to calm him down. Jenna knew that this was seen as a condescending towards felines, but TJ always liked the feeling. "You're gonna be okay. I promise." she whispered. She had already devised a plan. While she knew his parents are much more lax in regards of Christianity (to the point that she can't tell if they're just agnostic now), Jenna was more worried about the college he goes to. If things got too intense, she'll just offer him a place to stay at her apartment and help him out until he decides to go live on his own. Once they get back from Echo and things calm down, she could take him to an LGBT meetup to help him get more comfortable and show that he's not alone. The fox sighed and looked at TJ, asking "Have you told anyone else this, TJ?"

"N-No." He tearfully answered, Jenna being unable to tell if he's crying out of frustration or happiness in that he finally came out.

Jenna let out a sigh and spoke. "If you're comfortable with it, maybe you can tell the others before we leave Sunday."

The lynx nodded, hugging her tight. "T-Thank you Jenna. Thank you so much..."

The two knew the next few days and probably more will be difficult with this new revelation in their life, but they'll find a way.

They'll work things out.


End file.
